By Rick West

It was back in February of 2009 when Theme Park Adventure first learned that Universal Studios Hollywood would be getting a Saw maze, based on the popular cult film series.  At the time, we'd just come off the rush of the world's first Saw haunted attraction located in Brea, California (which would become Sinister Pointe in October, 2009).  Our feelings were mixed, as the Saw attraction had been a lot of fun - and it was set in an environment where teams of people had to work their way through the maze, solving traps as they went.  It was an amazing experience - and we knew that would not at all be possible in a major theme park version of the same thing.

The saving grace regarding this announcement was that we also knew that Universal would take good care of the franchise and do its fans right by really pouring a lot of money and detail into the maze.  John Murdy, the Creative Director of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Hollywood is the ace in the hole when it comes to the event's direction, because above all, he is a fan of these films - anal to the core about getting everything right, whether it be the way a room is lit, how the actors interact with guests or even the smell of the scene.

When it comes to the Saw series, there is definitely no shortage of material to draw from - self-mutilation, burning bodies, freezing bodies, blades of every shape and size cutting away at flesh and even hypodermic needles piercing skin.  Every nightmarish way of inflicting pain and or death on people is explored in the Saw films - which basically gave Murdy and his team a veritable buffet of ghoulish death scenes to choose from when designing SAW: GAME OVER for Halloween Horror Nights 2009.

Late in the summer season, Theme Park Adventure had the opportunity to tour the SAW: GAME OVER site with Murdy.  The maze had just been constructed and the sets were just beginning to be moved in.  What we did learn during that tour was that while we simply saw bare walls and unfinished scenes, John had everything mapped out and visualized in his mind's eye.  With almost childlike enthusiasm, he delighted in explaining each room to us and pointed out elements unseen to us that were as clear as day in his head as to how they would look and work, once in place.

To say that Universal took gore elements to new heights with this maze for park guests would be an understatement.  Thrilled and shocked guests found themselves face-to-face with limbs being amputated, intestines being displayed and even a face being cut off right before their eyes.  It was crazy madness that Universal pulled off very nicely - as long as you can classify someone sawing their own foot off as "nice".  Fans of the Saw films seemed pretty content with the finished product at Halloween Horror Nights.  Honestly, there's only so much you can do when you have to move thousands of people through a maze in an evening - the possibility of having interactive trap elements is out the window, and so the only real route to take is having guests experience some of the more memorable death scenes from room to room as they walk through the maze.  This drew what we felt was unfair criticism from some fans of the past Brea attraction - you simply can't compare the two because their capacity needs are night and day.  Where the original Saw haunted attraction would see hundreds of people each evening during its operation, the Universal maze had to be designed to allow thousands of guests each night pass through.

I personally am not a huge fan of the Saw series.  It's not that I dislike the films (although I thought Saw V was terrible and boring); I just haven't had the opportunity (or reason) to sit through all of them in a theater or even on someone's couch.  I saw the original film and then kind of lost interest.  I was taken to see Saw V when it came out - which left me fairly lost, but nonetheless still disappointed in its production worth.  When Saw VI came out, I reluctantly went to see it (Johanna, co-owner of Theme Park Adventure, is a huge fan of the series) and was pleasantly entertained.  Going into the Universal maze inspired by the movies, most of the scenes were lost on me, as I am unfamiliar with the set-up and violent payoff.  But I did get that each scene depicted a trap from the Saw films and as far as I could tell, they were very faithful to the films and seemed very well thought-out and staged.  Johanna thought the maze did the films justice, so all in all, I'd say that SAW: GAME OVER delivered.

One of the most unsettling aspects of the maze wasn't the depiction of violence, but rather, the scents used within.  In particular, one of the first scenes in the maze was set in a dirty bathroom - and with God as my witness, when we first walked into the room, I had to breathe through my mouth to keep from gagging, the smell of urine and feces was so prominent.  It smelled so "dirty" that I actually tucked my hands into my jacket to keep from coming into contact with any surfaces.  As seasoned as I am when it comes to mazes and the like, I honestly forgot for a moment that I was in a designed element that was for the most part, completely clean and nothing like the horrible conditions it resembled.  The smell was absolutely disgusting - and judging by the comments and adverse reactions of guests as they entered the room (some even gagging), worked flawlessly in its purpose.

Which is one of the great Halloween Horror Nights debates.  Just because it looks good on paper or sounds wildly gross when explaining it to a group of reporters as you take them on a tour of the unfinished maze - should this type of scent be incorporated, and should it be incorporated to the point of making guests literally nauseated.  If you ask some people, it is too much; we spoke with some visitors that felt this aspect of Halloween Horror Nights maze design looks better on paper than it actually is when carried out in real life.  Other visitors thought the dimension of scents - no matter how disgusting - is fantastic, and is something that sets the detail of the Universal mazes above others offered at various theme park Halloween events.  Whichever side of the Smelly Fence you fall on, one thing is for sure - the men and women that have to stay and work in such scenes all night long deserve friggin' medals, because that is so above and beyond what most of them probably signed on for when hiring in to Halloween Horror Nights.  It boggles the mind how someone could stay for hours and inhale nothing but rancid urine odor peppered with crap and whatever other bathroom smells are thrown in for good measure.  You can't imagine their clothes, hair and even skin reeking of this stuff when they go home each night.  God.  As for me - I guess I am pro-scent, but only if it's done properly and not in an overt manner.  Murdy said that sometimes the scents come on too strong - in cases like that, I think it's way too much and is actually distracting and takes away from the maze as a whole.  But if it's done properly, as god-awful as it is to admit... it can be a powerful tool and does enhance the maze design for guests.

The fear factor of SAW: GAME OVER was about as much as you find in any Universal maze.  The distract-and-scare tactic is pretty apparent in most Uni mazes - SAW was no exception, which for me at least, loses its charm when done so much as a rule of thumb.  However, I think it's important to say that the majority of the Halloween Horror Nights guests at the event weren't there to be scared by random talent in pig masks - they were there to see the gruesome aftermath of Jigsaw as depicted so infamously in the Saw films.  Throughout the maze, there were hordes of people being scared by the talent in every scene, so it obviously isn't a tactic figured out and expected by the vast majority - perhaps just us jaded Halloween freaks and haunt connoisseur bastards. 

One last item that has Halloween Horror Nights fans divided year after year (much more so than the great scent debate) is Universal's almost incessant use of water gags in its mazes.  While the whole squirting water in guests' faces deliberately approach has diminished somewhat, there is a lot of water used in all Uni mazes - some more than others.  I'd say that this year, SAW: GAME OVER probably used the most water gags at HHN (at least that was how it felt each time we ventured through the maze).  In my opinion, it gets old when used too much, and I can safely say that I have received email complaining about and have heard countless discussions amongst haunt fans about Universal's desire to soak people at every turn, regardless how cold it might be during October or how annoying and not scary it is to suddenly be blasted in the face (or glasses or expensive camera equipment) by a jet of water that some people apparently believe is blood.  I'm not a fan of water rides at any theme park - so you can imagine my personal position on the whole water in every maze approach Universal takes.  Not a fan in the most remote sense.  But whatever - it serves a purpose and again, the majority of Horror Nights guests seem to be cool with it, so I'm not expecting it to vanish from these mazes any time soon.  There was a lot of water used in SAW: GAME OVER; too much, in my opinion.  But that's just that - my opinion.

TPA did feel that the end of the maze - a small scene in a "back alley" with a Billy doll thrown into a dumpster (and then the subsequent pig-masked talent hopping out through a doorway) was a bit on the anti-climatic side of things, given the intensity of the rest of the maze.  Perhaps one of the more infamous or horrible traps depicted in one of the films would have been more exciting - or giving guests the feeling that they were stepping into a trap at the end... anything but the doll just lying there "laughing" in the dumpster.  That was kind of a let-down, but it wasn't by any means terrible; we just thought the maze was building up to something spectacular as the conclusion and it didn't - it just kind of ended.

Overall, Theme Park Adventure thought SAW: GAME OVER was a strong addition to the 2009 Halloween Horror Nights lineup.  It was very popular with HHN guests and definitely served its purpose and made the fans proud for the most part.  It wasn't my favorite maze this year at Uni - but it was definitely not the weakest of the bunch.  Props to John and his crew for bringing the menace and raw horror that is Saw to life at Universal Studios Hollywood.  It was an experience we won't soon forget!

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